


Two Lovers to Dance a Waltz

by ellacj



Series: 52 Weeks of Swan Queen [33]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Forbidden Love, Not with each other, Part two of three
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2015-08-21
Packaged: 2018-04-16 09:45:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4620705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellacj/pseuds/ellacj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I’m going to fight. I’m going to fight for you. You need to remember that.” </p><p>-R.L. Griffin</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Lovers to Dance a Waltz

**Author's Note:**

> this is the part where i quote the post that inspired this http://mishka47.tumblr.com/post/126046665617
> 
> part two of three

Regina’s quiet tonight. She doesn’t even face Emma as she lies there on the bed, but the gentle shaking of her shoulders speak for themselves.

Rather than badger her, which Emma has learned will likely get her killed, she simply scoots forward and slips her arms around Regina’s waist and draws her closer. She presses gentle kisses to Regina’s cheek and the shell of her ear. “It’s gonna be okay,” she breathes. “We’ll figure this out. We’ll fight this.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.” Emma holds back a sigh. One of them has to keep it together tonight. “But we’ve got four years until Leo’s of age. You’re not gonna marry my brother.”

Regina turns over to face Emma. Her eyes are red and swollen, cheeks stained with dried tears, but still her face shows only concern for Emma. “What about you? Your parents are going to marry you off as soon as they find someone suitable. We don’t have that kind of time.”

“Don’t worry about me.” Emma slides her hand down Regina’s arm and finds her hand, gently playing with the fingers until they open to accept her grip. “I care about you, okay? I’m gonna fight this. I’m gonna fight for you.”

“For us.”

Emma grins and leans forward to give Regina the barest whisper of a kiss. “For us,” she whispers.

 

Emma sighs as yet another rock sinks below the surface.

“You’re off your game today,” Bae says, flicking his own stone. It bounces four times before dropping beneath the water.

“I’m just distracted.”

“What’s up?”

Emma sighs. “My parents are bringing this prince here to meet me today. They want me to marry him.”

Bae frowns. “Shouldn’t you be inside getting ready?”

“Yeah.” Emma throws another rock, watching with exasperation as it sinks with a loud _plunk_. “I don’t want to get married, Bae.” She turns away from the lake, combing through her hair with her fingers. “I just want Regina.”

Bae catches Emma’s waist and pulls her tight to his side. He slides his fingers through her hair with gentle strokes when she leads her head on his shoulder. “You gotta fight for her, Swan. You gotta be strong.”

“What if I don’t want to be strong?”

“Tough. The world’s not gonna go easy on you just because you’re sick of fighting it.” Bae squeezes her tight to his side. “If you want something you have to go take it. You can’t back down.”

Emma sighs heavily. She wriggles out of Bae’s arm and turns to face him. “I gotta go suffer through the meeting with this prince and then make sure Leo’s okay.” She offers a small wave before turning back toward the palace. “I’ll see you later.”

Snow is waiting in Emma’s bedroom when she finally reaches the top of the South Tower, digging through the wardrobe for a suitable gown. “There you are!” she says with exasperation as Emma enters. “Where have you been?”

“I was with Baelfire.”

Snow sighs. “Emma, you know I tolerate your friendship with him, but it becomes a problem when he keeps you from things like this. Prince Charles will be here in just a few hours and you’re not even dressed yet!”

“Mom, it’s not Bae’s fault.” Emma lifts her arms to allow her mother to dress her in some ridiculous ruffled thing in a bright purple color. “I lost track of time. I’m sorry.”

“Then you need to be more conscious.” Snow ties the bow in the back of Emma’s gown, circling around to stand in front of her with a solemn expression. She slides two fingers under Emma’s chin and gently lifts it to look her daughter in the eye. “Do you know how important this is for us?” she says softly.

“For you.”

“For _us_. This union could mean the end of the Ogre Wars, Emma. A three-kingdom alliance may be just what we need to protect our people.”

Emma squirms away from her mother’s touch and her gaze drops to focus on her feet. “I don’t want to get married.”

“I know. But we can’t afford to be selfish.” Snow pulls her into a hug, gently stroking her hair. “You’ll grow to love him. I did.”

Emma pastes a smile on her face when Snow pulls out of the hug. She doesn’t say anything more as the servants come in to fix her hair and apply makeup to soften her features; make her look like the dainty princess she’s supposed to be. Finally, after hours of primping, the page enters the room to announce Prince Charles’s arrival.

Snow stops Emma before she leaves the chamber. “You look so beautiful,” she breathes as she catches a blonde curl between her fingers. “I know it must not seem like it now, but your father and I want so badly for you to be happy.”

“And you really think this is going to make that happen?”

“I truly hope so.”

“Guess we’ll find out.” Emma pushes past her mother and follows the page down to the throne room. It’s empty. She takes her seat in one of the smaller of the four thrones, settling in to await her parents and their guests.

Snow and David enter and take their seats without a word. Emma’s nerves spike as the heavy double doors open and three people stride in. They bow.

“Welcome,” David greets them. “We’re very pleased you could make the trip here.”

Emma scoffs under her breath.

Snow doesn’t react. Instead, she retains that stone-cold exterior she insists queens must have. “Prince Charles, we’d like you to meet your fiancée. Emma?”

Trying desperately not to show her distaste for the man in front of her, Emma stands from her throne and bends at the waist in a bow. “It’s simply splendid to meet you,” she says in the softest, daintiest voice she can muster.

“We’ll leave you two alone,” Snow cuts in. “While we go to discuss arrangements.” Before the adults leave, she shoots Emma a look that says something along the lines of _don’t screw this up_.

Emma sighs as the doors fall shut. “When did your parents tell you?”

“An hour into the carriage ride to get here,” Charles says. “Yourself?”

“Last night.”

“Forgive me. But I don’t want to marry you.”

Emma grins. “I don’t want to marry you, either.”

“Truthfully, I love someone back home.”

“What’s she like?”

Charles moves to sit in one of the thrones with a wistful smile. “She’s amazingly kind. And gentle, and so forgiving. Her smile brings light to the whole room.”

Emma sits beside him. “I know a girl like that.”

“Do you love her?”

“I… I don’t know.” Emma bites her cheek. “I might.”

“We won’t lose them.” Charles smiles slightly and reaches across to grip Emma’s forearm. “I promise you, we won’t lose them.”

“No. We have to fight this.”

“How?”

Emma grins. “I might have a plan.”

 

When Emma bursts into Regina’s bedroom to tell her the good news, Regina’s nowhere to be found. Instead, there’s a half-full bag of clothes sitting on the bed and a nearly empty wardrobe.

Regina comes into the room a minute later with a basket slug over her arm. “Emma.”

“What’s this?” Emma gestures to the bag.

Regina sighs and sits down on the bed. “We’re going home. Mother just told me.”

“Why? Don’t our parents have to talk about the alliance?”

“Mother gave Snow White an enchanted mirror so they can communicate.” She bites her lip. “I’ll be back once Leo comes of age. So we can…” she trails off. Neither of them want that sentence to be finished.

“But-” Emma runs both hands through her hair. “I love you. I know it’s really soon and I know we haven’t really”-

“Emma,” Regina cuts her off. “I love you, too.”

Emma sits down on the bed beside her. “So we’ll figure this out, right? We can’t let this slip away just because they want to marry us off.” She stands up, taking Regina’s hands to pull her up with her. “We matter more than that.”

“Yes, we do.”

“When do you leave?”

“Tomorrow after breakfast.”

“Wow. Okay.” Emma runs her thumbs over the backs of Regina’s hands. “Let them look for silly princes for us.” She pulls Regina close to her and moves one hand to rest on her waist. “While we dance like the queens we are.”

Regina smiles. She clutches Emma’s body like it’s an anchor, resting her head on Emma’s shoulder as they move to the music in their heads. Emma smiles. She wishes she could capture this moment and stay here forever. But, of course, time ticks on, every second bringing them closer to being pulled apart. But here, now, she feels safe. She feels loved.

It’s as close to perfect as they’ll ever get.


End file.
